Kevin Harvick holds off Will Rodgers for NASCAR K&N West Sonoma victory

The former Cup Series champion returns to his roots in style

Kevin Harvick celebrated in victory lane at Sonoma Raceway following his NASCAR K&N Pro Series West win Saturday.

Kevin Harvick made his return to NASCAR K&N Pro Series West and he delivered.

The Bakersfield, California, native dominated the Carneros 200 at Sonoma Raceway. Harvick held off hard-charging Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Will Rodgers, while the rest of the field was more than nine seconds back.

Harvick won the 1998 West championship on his way up the NASCAR ladder, which culminated in his winning the 2014 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship. He drove the No. 4 Fields Ford for Jefferson Pitts Racing to his eighth victory of his career in the K&N Pro West Series.

"It always feels good to win no matter what it is," said Harvick. "The main objective was to come have fun, shine a little light on the series and shine a little light on how much talent is in the series. This particular series did a lot for me and to come back and be a part of it, see the health of it and see the young guys racing was the main objective.

"It's always fun to race in front of your home state fans. It's been a long time since I raced in this particular series here, so it was a fun weekend."

Rodgers, a 22-year-old from Murrieta, California, won his first Coors Light Pole Award earlier in the day and brought his No. 7 Solvang Brewing Company Ford home in second place, his best finish of his 14 K&N Pro Series West starts.

"For some funny reason, I had a feeling as far back as four weeks ago that it was going to be me and Kevin coming into turn 11 on the last lap," Rodgers said. "And sure enough, there we were. He ran a really good race, I learned a lot from him. We were able to lead some laps there in the beginning. It doesn't feel too bad to finish second today."

David Mayhew came home in third, followed by Michael Self and Derek Kraus in fourth and fifth, respectively.